The BBC's Angus Roxburgh"It was built in just four years and one month" real 28k

Friday, 30 June, 2000, 13:17 GMT 14:17 UK

Scandinavian mega-bridge set to open

The Oresund Link: One of Europe's biggest ever building projects

By BBC News Online's Laurence Peter

One of the world's longest bridges will be opened to road and rail traffic on 1 July with the inauguration of the Oresund Link connecting Sweden with Denmark.

The 16 km (10-mile) bridge-tunnel link across the Oresund sound is one of the largest infrastructure projects in European history. It connects the Danish capital Copenhagen to the Swedish port of Malmo.

The Swedish-Danish Oresund Consortium is in charge of the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the link.

Instead of the one-hour ferry trip, travellers will soon be able to cover the distance in as little as 10 minutes on high-speed trains.

Four lanes will be open to vehicles on the upper deck of the cable-stay bridge, while trains roll across the lower deck.

Cars and trains starting in Malmo will cross over the 7.8 km (4.8 mile) two-level bridge and an artificial island, before diving into an underwater tunnel about 4 km long, which emerges south of Copenhagen, near the city's international airport.

The Oresund Sound has separated the two countries since the last ice age, but now the new link is expected to boost trade and jobs in the region.